From the beginning of the occupation until a recent period only five (5) cases of murder or attempted murder occurred in my whole district, and I had no apprehension but what I would be able to stop the recurrence of such crimes effectually. The troops at my disposal were, however, sadly reduced by the recent muster-out of cavalry and infantry regiments. Attala and Holmes counties were, on my arrival, the theatre of the greatest outrages; the interior of these counties was garrisoned by cavalry detachments, which communicated with the infantry posts along the railroad, and they (the cavalry) were most effective in preventing crime and arresting malefactors, thus affording the much needed protection to peaceable inhabitants. The cavalry garrisons, however, were withdrawn about two (2) weeks ago for muster-out, and since that time four (4) murders, two of white Union men and two of negroes, have been reported to me from Attala county. The infantry garrisons along the railroad are actively endeavoring to effect the arrest of the suspected parties, but the chances of success are exceedingly doubtful, as only mounted troops can be successfully used for that purpose. There is no doubt whatever that the state of affairs would be intolerable for all Union men, all recent immigrants from the north; and all negroes, the moment the protection of the United States troops was withdrawn. In support of this opinion permit me to make a few remarks about the citizens. Although the people, as a general thing, are very anxious for peace, and for the restoration of law and order, they hardly realize the great social change brought about by the war. They all know that slavery, in the form in which it existed before the war, and in which they idolized it, is at an end; but these former slave owners are very loth to realize the new relative positions of employer and employee, and all kinds of plans for "new systems of labor" are under constant discussion. The principal feature of all plans proposed is that the labor of the nominally freedmen should be secured to their old masters without risk of interruption or change. This desire is very natural in an agricultural community, which has been left for generations in the undisturbed enjoyment of all the comforts and independent luxuries induced by a system where the laborer and not the labor was a marketable commodity. It is, however, just as natural that those most interested should differ essentially with the slaveholder on that point. They naturally claim that they (the laborers) have by the war and its consequences gained the right to hire out their labor to whomsoever they please, and to change their relations so as to insure for themselves the best possible remuneration. The defenders and protectors of this last position are principally the agents of the Freedmen's Bureau and the co-operating military forces, and of course they are not liked. Their decisions and rules are looked upon by former